Jennifer Steinbachs, ND

[Pat Robinson]

[Guest blog post Jennifer Steinbachs, ND]

• What circumstances led you to your current health and wellness mission?
  
  During my pregnancy, I had all sorts of aches and pains that didn’t feel “normal”.  The doctors told me they were normal but still, there was that nagging feeling.  I would go for a prenatal massage to loosen up the tightness in my lower back, but then I still had much pain (even worse than before I went into the massage) and could barely walk. But I was continually assured that it was normal. 
  
  After my son’s birth, my pelvis felt like it had been cracked open.  Well, it had been, sort of.  In the early postpartum months, I had two doctors tell me that it was normal and I should take a pain killer.  I was incensed at that notion, changed doctors and asked for a third opinion.  Finally, I was sent for physical therapy, which helped a bit.  But, when my son was a year old, I lost some weight and the pain came back. 
  
  I started going to see a naturopath who did some great bodywork.  For a change, I finally had most of the pain alleviated, and a name for what I had been experiencing – pubic symphysis disorder.
  
  When my son was about nine months old, he developed mild eczema.  After much reading, I learned that we were looking at a situation with food allergies.  Because he was still mostly nursing, whatever course I took, it would involve changing my diet along with his.  We did do a skin prick test when he was a year old, only to find that (not surprisingly) he didn’t react to anything -- not even the foods (dairy, most notably) that I suspected.  But, I remember leaving the allergist’s office feeling lost – I had to do a food elimination diet but didn’t know who to ask for help.  Again, the naturopath became a very useful resource. 
  
  We identified that I had a “leaky gut”.  My nursling was getting eczema because of a condition in my gut, not necessarily his own.   We followed a dairy-free diet for a long time, then also removed gluten (out of my own diet), added in a few targeted supplements, and his skin cleared up, his frequent ear infections became rare, and I lost all that pregnancy weight.
  
  Another bigger step into naturopathy came when my husband started having gall bladder pain.  He went through the normal doctor route for treatment – physical examination, ultrasound and even a technique called nuclear scintigraphy.  Whilst he was having all that done, I combed through the scientific literature and few scientific blogs, and found that gall bladder dysfunction can be linked to gluten intolerance.  My husband did some testing for gluten intolerance and found that he has an allele that predisposes him to it. 
  
  We completely eliminated gluten from our diet and, for a year or two, he used an enzyme supplement to help with fat breakdown.  Now, several years later, he still has his gall bladder, he is still able to eat bacon, and he no longer needs enzyme supplements.
  
  It was then that I began seriously pursuing a new career in naturopathy.  While our own challenges have not been severe, they have had an impact on our family and on my perspective as a practitioner.

 

• How does your work address needs that you see in today’s health care system?
  
  In my work, I address the whole person.  In a typical office visit, I will spend at least an hour with a client, who usually has an interesting back story lurking behind the complaint that brought them to see me.  I will educate the client about how that back story can be contributing to their current problems.  I try to empower my client to start taking control of their lifestyle, first with food choices, then we layer in some bodywork, herbs, and homeopathy.  Modern health problems today are much more complex than one thing (food, herbs, etc.) can solve, so it often requires a multi-pronged approach.

 

• What do you wish more people knew about health?
  
  While many people can look after their food, herbs, and supplements themselves, part of self-care involves turning oneself over to another for massage or some other type of hands-on bodywork.  I view my job as facilitating both the building up of “good” blood and then using bodywork techniques to move it around.

 

• What has been hardest for you on this path of natural health?
  
  My own downfalls are sleep and exercise.  I often become so engrossed in my research reading that I delay them both and have insufficient time to do them both well.

 

• What three natural alternatives could individuals add to their life to improve their personal health?
  
  Some form of bodywork - massage, chiropractic, osteopathic, or some other structural approach - should be part of everyone’s self-care plan.  When an individual is relaxed, this type of bodywork can move the blood around so that the nutrients are well-distributed and lymph is moved around more efficiently.  Yes, exercise can do the same thing, but  an hour of lying down and being somewhat pampered can’t always be a bad thing.

Contact Jennifer Steinbachs, ND for health consults.

And on Facebook for health research and inspiration.


“Helping you find wellness from within” - Offering nutritional guidance, homeopathy, herbal remedies, and naturopathic bodywork.